Thursday 3 January 2019

January In Garnet - finished!

Hi all!

I have my first finish for 2019!

At the beginning of each month I will be stitching a little calendar piece, by Palkolp, in that month's birthstone colour. This idea was inspired by Jo's People's Choice SAL Birthstone posting a couple of months ago, and from her link to a website about birthstones.

January's birthstone is garnet:

Her who in January was born
No gems save garnets shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity

Visit http://www.birthstonesbymonth.co.uk/january_c53.aspx if you would like to read little interesting snippets of information about garnets (thanks go to Jo for providing the link in her original Birthstone post).

Here's my garnet tribute then:

January by Palkolap
Stitched on 16ct Rhododendron over-dyed aida by Sewitall.com 2 over 1
Stitch count 45 wide by 45 high
Stitched with DMC 115 and Mill Hill frosted seed beads 62032
Started - 1st January 2019
Finished - 2nd January 2019
Total stitching time - 4 hours 50 minutes


It was my original intention to stitch the whole of the month's name in beads but, since Mill Hill seed beads are made for 14ct not 16ct, they didn't lay particularly well. So I kept the J in beads, frogged the rest (I hadn't got very far) and used them for the border instead. Then I thought the J looked wrong - too 'heavy' - so that was also frogged and replaced with threads! I'm a little disappointed that my grand plan didn't work but this looks so much better.

You'll see January In Garnet again in the Smalls SAL posting towards the end of the month, but as a fully-finished piece.

Take care,
Rachel x

8 comments:

Katie said...

Love how it turned out. I agree the words would have felt too heavy in beads. Love the beaded border though. Perfect color choices. Love the new series!! Can't wait to see them all grow. At least this is another free set for when I do fall in love with them....which I bet I will.

Cathy said...

I love your color choices. And I agree that using the beads for the border only was the way to go. Are you using the birthstone colors for each month? BTW, I was born in January many moons ago!

Sandra said...

Very nice "January" stitch. The variegated colors are great and the added beads on the border makes it extra special.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your first finish for 2019. Love the colours and that you added beads for that something extra. Happy stitching!!

Faith... said...

Love it Rachel! It looks great and I love the beaded border!

Congrats on your first finish of the year!

The Crafty Princess said...

I think the beaded border looks better than doing the letters in J. It makes it stand out more. I love it, congrats on the first finish for the year.
xo Alicia

Tiffstitch said...

Oh, that's lovely with the bead border! These were so fun to stitch. I made each of them into a card and sent it to my Grandma. Beautiful thread choice too.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

The beaded border looks great, that's a very neat idea.